LAW OFFICE MANAGEMENT
Just saying 'no' to retirement
Firms are facing pushbacks from those who are not ready to pack in their practices at age 65.
BY KEVIN MARRON D
on't ever tell Ned Levitt it's time for him to retire. The 63-year-old partner at Aird & Berlis LLP intends to carry on
practising law "until the hearse pulls up to the door." He's one of many healthy and highly motivated baby boomers who believe they will remain active and productive for many years to come. "My practice is still expanding so why
put an arbitrary time frame on that," he says. "I work out at a gym three mornings a week. I'm a shortboard windsurfer. So are you going to tell me to go lie on a couch?" But this determination to break the
old retirement age barrier can present huge problems for law firms — espe- cially when it is accompanied with a reluctance on the part of the aging partner to make any moves to wind
down his or her practice by passing on work and client contacts to younger colleagues. "Firms are struggling with this," says law firm consultant Karen MacKay, president of Phoenix Legal Inc. She maintains that many firms do a poor job in managing retirement and succession planning. And it's an issue that has become even more wor- risome for law firm managers in light of a recent British Columbia Human
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JASON SChNEIDER
